Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Law Prof: McCaskill "Naive" To Oppose Judicial Pay Raise

A Philadelphia law professor is arguing that Sen. Claire McCaskill was wrong to lambaste a pay raise for federal judges during the auto bailout debate last week.

"McCaskill's attack won her praise from fiscal conservatives, but it represents the naïve thinking that puts our nation in peril," writes Drexel University law professor Adam Benforado in a column that appears in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Benforado says that the Founders gave strong job protection to members of the judiciary so they can render correct decisions, even if they are unpopular at the time.

"The current call for fairly remunerating judges is not about greed or selfishness; it is about getting the best legal minds -- strong and unfettered -- onto our courts," writes Benforado.

You can watch McCaskill's speech against a proposed pay raise HERE. That portion of the legislation was later stripped from the bill.

"McCaskill is right that the proposed increase would have a cost, but, in the end, it seems like a small one to pay," writes Benforado.

"Just how small? Even if we were to increase judicial salaries by 100 percent -- dwarfing the 2.9 percent adjustment that McCaskill so vigorously assailed -- the total bill would be one-hundredth of 1 percent of the federal budget."